This morning as I was enjoying my lightly hot black coffee and reading news/forums I thoroughly enjoy in the mornings, I saw the question…well, more of a command…to the readers of: “SHOW ME YOUR DESK.”

And it was kinda interesting. Some people had pretty normal Staples’ desks in their office. Some had ridiculously tidy desks with n’er a thing off kilter. But then there were also these crazy organized mahogany desks surrounded by a room full of inset, recently dusted and matching booksshelves, with guitars lined up and professional lighting surrounding the space…

kinda had a little desk-envy with that one.

But others were just a desk in the kitchen, some were a small end table neatly adorned with flowers and straightened post it note pads; although, my favorite was a crazy Pi setup with racks of deconstructed machines connected to sundry monitors and archaic IBM keyboards the size of a Buick.

It was interesting seeing where people work.

So, to break the seal on here..since I am still behind in writing, because that is the nature of being a writer, I swear…I thought I’d show you my desk!

This is my desk. It came with the house, and it has two functional drawers that are stuffed with cords, cables, broken necklaces and dried hydrangeas the kids have brought me…and one large drawer, but the bottom was broken. So, it’s kind of useless.

On top of my desk I carry my inks, my pens, my favorite glitter heels to improve morale, a printer that works 20% of the time, my favorite gold hat, a beach ball, a broken disco ball, a 3 hole punch, piles of paper and notebooks, my purple Onassis sunglasses and my gloves.

However, I am a multi-faceted woman.

One desk cannot contain everything in me.

Therefore, I also do work in the chair on the right…I don’t know why I don’t like the chair on the left, but it feels like I’m sleeping on the wrong side of the bed in that chair.

This spot is perfect for early mornings, or late afternoons. Perfect for reading and plunking on the cello. Still working on that.

Otherwise, I’m doing school with the kids at the dining room table.

Y’know, this tablecloth is hilarious. I bought it on sale at Target for $5 because I needed something to hide the amount of paint and glue I may, or may not, have permanently affixed to our table, before guests arrived for Christmas. But that was like, 7 years ago and this baby is still going strong! You can’t see any  stains on this thing.

Talk about an easy investment.

This is a good spot to work because it isn’t cluttered, and there is a lot of space to think. I can’t imagine being stuck in a small, dark, cluttered and beige space and still be a functional human being. Might as well just give up and never write again with that kind of environment…

I know. Writers are picky about their spaces.

It is also very close to the coffee pot, which is awfully convenient. That is always a good space to be in.

 

For our Summer School history lessons (because, yes, we do summer school here…it’s fun!), we are going through Washington State History. I actually started reading this book on my own a few months ago, and realized within a few pages that the kids had to read this book. It is just crazy good writing, informative and very funny to read. 

This is not your normal history book.

“Sons of the Profits; The Seattle Story 1851-1901, or There’s No Business Like Grow Business Hardcover – 1972″ (amazon link)

We are in the middle of Chapter 2 right now, which took forever to get to. The chapters are like, 30 pages long and chock full of information, and the kids are taking notes and working on a huge butcher paper timeline during the note taking…so it’s a process. 

However, we had to go to the Washington State History Museum yesterday because the museum has free admission on the third Thursday of every month from 2pm-8pm…and if you think I can pass up free admission, you are sorely mistaken.

It wasn’t too far away, even after Google Maps had me drive in a few circles around Port Orchard for no reason.  We got there a little early, so we were able to do a little walkin’ and explorin’ before we headed inside. And we found The Glass Bridge, which was really cool and there were a lot of incredible glass pieces displayed on the bridge…

However, I was kinda looking forward to walking on a glass bridge. Like, in Frozen. Yes, yes, I know that is low brow and a little shallow and I should be grateful for the art experience provided to us…

Still a little bummed 😦

 

So, it was finally 2pm and we got to go into the museum! W007!

This place is so much bigger than I expected. There are 3 gigantic floors packed with an insane amount of displays and interactive exhibits. Normally I don’t get too excited about history museums, because they are usually just a bunch of old framed pictures on the wall…but this place had it goin’ on!

We learned about Washington pioneering, trading, salmon fishing, electrical systems, dam building, aeronautics, the railway, ship building, craftsmanship, logging, mining, agriculture and Native American culture.

And that’s just the half of it…honestly. Did you know we have some Stonehenge replica somewhere in the south of the state? Yeah. I had no idea, and we need to find that thing.

We also got to go into a mine shaft and learn about the dangers of mines. Glenn can tell you exactly how 39 men died between 1909-1910…and then we found a dead guy!!  Huge highlight for our day.

I was just blown away with how well done, interesting, interactive, relevant and informative this museum was. It helped the kids learn more about the history of our state in ways that made more sense than just reading about it in a book, and they talked about the entire museum all the way home.

Finding this museum was a score, and we are definitely coming back again.

 

“You know what’s wrong with you, Miss Whoever-You-Are? You’re chicken, you’ve got no guts. You’re afraid to stick out your chin and say, “Okay, life’s a fact, people do fall in love, people do belong to each other, because that’s the only chance anybody’s got for real happiness.” You call yourself a free spirit, a wild thing, and you’re terrified somebody’s going to stick you in a cage. Well, baby, you’re already in that cage. You built it yourself. And it’s not bounded in the west by Tulip, Texas, or in the east by Somaliland. It’s wherever you go. Because no matter where you run, you just end up running into yourself.”
― Paul Varjack

I was looking for a quote about being a free spirit and I found this.

It is from “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” which is a misnomer from MisNomerVille.

Honestly, when I was 17 I had on my bucket list: “Have a croissant at Tiffany’s in NewYork City.”Because what did I know? At the time, I lived in a sprawling suburb in the middle of suburbia, flanked by cornfields, tomato fields and an AirForce base.

I remember when the first Starbucks arrived, and we couldn’t figure out why you would spend $4 on a cup of coffee. We had two high schools, one Denny’s, a library and one freeway that led people through the town or out of town. Back then, there was no particular reason to stop in the town, unless you were looking for affordable housing.

I just figured, in my small farmtown perspective,that Tiffany’s was like IKEA. Furniture and stuff downstairs, a cafeteria with croissants upstairs.

The horizon, beyond the flanking range of hills, beckoned to my soul, the same way New York City beckoned to Holly Golightly.  New possibilities and new opportunities through which to shed the tight-fitting skin of your youth, and emerge into urbanity as a sophisticated butterfly.

Breakfast at Tiffany’s seemed like the perfect stepping off into a new Little Black Dress.

Turns out there is no croissant bakery in Tiffany’s, and they just sell jewelry.

Who knew??

Nevertheless, the sentiment remains the same. The freedom of living life unconstrained. Unyielding. Unrelenting to obstacles or stumbling blocks.

What would you do if you could…just go?

 

 

Summer has started.

And your weekly schedule is already overflowing.  The kitchen counters are a tidal wave of camp sheets that need to be signed off, survival books to be ordered, hiking supplies to find, mosquito repellant to purchase…plus playdates, carpooling, weekly events. Do they need new socks? New shoes? Did they outgrow their pants already? Can they just live in their swimsuit?  Have they lost their shoes already?

Have you lost your mind already??

Sometimes you can actually make eye contact with the young child in your car, and all you can think is: life is way too busy. This isn’t what I intended our day to look like. This isn’t what we intended our family evenings to look like.

Being a parent in our modern world has as many challenges as being a kid in our modern world.  But parents have the opportunity to balance the heavy hectic schedule with the happy: rather than cutting everything out with a hatchet, use a scalpel instead.  The best thing you can do is to teach your kids how to balance work and life, without having to compromise family for ambitions.

Carve out time for your family to connect in little ways, and big ways.

1. Family Party Games for Family Game Night

http://www.simply-fun-games.com/family-party-games.html

I have never been a huge “party person,” so the concept of me coming up with party plans all on my own….is ridiculous. I need some ideas other than musical chairs, or karaoke (not always as fun as it would seem…if no one wants to sing).  This site has fun activities planned out for a bunch of occasions, such as swimming pool games, which could be fun to do together if you have a pool,  or Family Game Night, which can be loads of fun without a pool!

2. Day-to-Day Bonding Ideas

http://www.tipsonlifeandlove.com/parenting/7-great-family-bonding-activities

Tips on Life and Love has a practical and pragmatic view of bonding: they are focusing on daily life. But how do you make breakfast a meaningful time to bond with your family, when the coffee isn’t brewing fast enough, half the people actually awake are still in the bathroom, and the other half are trying to find the 3 year old’s other shoe before PreSchool?  (ProTip: it’s in the car)  Sometimes you need a big vacation to get away together; but most of the time you just need someone to be there for you, every day.  Make those every day moments just as special.

3. Make The Most With The Schedule You Got

http://lifestyle.howstuffworks.com/family/parenting/bonding/10-family-bonding-activities.htm

Need some good ideas, but not the time to sort through an entire blog’s worth of information? These guys have a very easy slideshow list to pick through, and can make unorganized spontaneous nights a little more organized, and enjoyable!

4. Good Ideas From Great Parents

http://afineparent.com/close-knit-family/family-bonding-activities.html

A Fine Parent has made not only a good list of ideas for what to do with your family, but practical tips and links to help you pull it off with ease.  Nothing makes a situation harder than not being prepared: so be prepared!  Find out what vacation spots have swimming holes nearby, and get your Huck Finn on with your kids!  Interested in baking with the kids, but not sure where to start! They have that too.  Want to build a family garden, but the green thumb ended with your great Aunt Martha? They have that covered, in full.  You have years of ideas at your fingertips on this site.

5. The Huge List of Family Bonding Activities

http://www.sustainablebabysteps.com/family-bonding-activities.html

This page is awash with ideas on what you can do with your family.  From time-intensive ideas, like  starting movie marathons together, to smaller commitments like walking the dog together, this is a great resource to get your relationship time to really matter.  It has ideas like feeding the homeless together, to building an indoor fort…to juggling.  You will definitely find something on here to make a meaningful time more fun!

If you know Ben, you know his motto in life.

It is what he believes for himself,

and it is what he insists his guys at work hold to.

“Family First.”

Even if I tried, I couldn’t find a more selfless, brilliant, honest, loving, gorgeous (omg), and devoted Father in the history of the world.

He is the man who has given us a magical home in the forest,

takes us on wild adventures,

teaches his children about the mysteries of God,

helps his children learn how to ice skate, rock climb, fly drones and appreciate nature,

and with whom I find myself falling in love all over again, every time he walks in the room.

Happy Father’s Day Ben

Last night I had a terrifying dream.

This dream was so terrifying, it woke me up. At 4 in the morning I lay in bed, watching the PNW sun crest over the Cascades and pierce through my previously slumbering forest. The sunbeams cut through the night and woke all the birds who nest in the cedars and maples around us. No doubt, it was a glorious sight to behold. The leaves perked up, the wildflowers surrounding the arboreal giants yawned sleepily, and the songbirds rose en masse in a choir fit for a queen.

Except the queen may have reminded them, “Hey! You all! It’s 4am! Knock off all that ruckus and go back to sleep!”

That’s what I would have said, but I didn’t want to wake the house.

So there I was, terribly awake at 4am. Listening to the majesty of songbirds and watching my mystical forest come to life.

What could have woken me, you wonder? What dream could have disturbed my sleep so great to startle me into the early morning light?

I dreamt, and I swear this is all true, that I and the kids and Ben were escaping from school on motorcycles. Except we hit a huge puddle right before the bridge that would get us to the other side, and all of our motorcycles drowned.

In confused distress, and treading water, we looked at our submerged bikes and said, “Well. Now what do we do??”

And with that, my brain yanked me out of my futile dream of escape and plunked me back in my bed. Wide awake. At 4am. Listening to way too many songbirds claim their perched territories in my forest.

Wide awake.

I have to come to terms with the fact that today is the first day of summer vacation.

I know, I know. “Yay! It is summer vacation! What fun!! No more work!”

The problem is, I like working.

I love creating and exploring and discovering new things…and old things. I like teaching and having agendas and directing the day in a timely and orderly fashion.

And yet, here I am.

At 11:56am, still in my bathrobe and still letting the kids play Minecraft.

It’s like…anarchy. And chaos. And drifting through life…

I’m sure I will get the hang of this “vacation” thing eventually.

But today, I might do some laundry. Or maybe look for motorcycles on Craigslist.

When I think of a good, proper vacation, I think: middle of nowhere.

Maybe I hate complicated vacations. Heck, maybe I just hate complicated life. I just don’t see the value in escaping schedules, agendas, meal planning, social catering and deadlines…and then bringing them all with you during your vacation.

If I am going to go on vacation, I don’t want waiters, resorts, pools, cabanas, cruise ships or staying a week in a hotel. In one room. On the same bed. With the same horrible patterned carpet and boxed soaps.

What I want in a vacation is to live. Live like the poets want us to live… to have little to no plans, and just driving wherever the map will let us go. Maybe farther. (probably farther)

I know this is a little unorthodox, and a little risky…but you know what you’ll find when you don’t have a good, solid plan?

Adventure.

You can’t live life in a box. So get out.

 

Okay, so our first stop was Spokane, which we anticipated to be just a stop and drive-through. What we didn’t expect was discovering this crazy amazing city…that has a wicked river that runs straight through it. 

We also found one of the largest clock towers in the US! This sucker has a clock face that is 9 feet across. So we posed as clocks in respect.

Also! The 1974 World Faire was held here, and it was just a wonderland of architecture and forgotten rides. Maybe I’m a little romantic, but I love empty fairgrounds.

The kids also wanted to take a picture in front of the Sinclair gas dinosaur. I’ll explain to them later that it is a gas station mascot…

 

But then we really got into the heart of Montana (after driving through Idaho with zero cell reception the whole way, and running quickly in and out of sketchy gas station bathrooms with $.50 boxes on the walls selling everything…other than tampons. The people we met seemed nice).

Montana has a rich history of fur trading, logging and mining. So when I found the Montana Fur Trading company, I may have flipped out in excitement. This is America’s history!! This is crazy exciting! Do you know what they had in there??

Everything.

They had bobcat, mountain lion, bear, wolf, coyote, raccoon, wolverine, fox, skunk, badger…I can’t think of what else has fur. Beavers…rabbit…they seriously had it all. It was just amazing to experience.

Unfortunately, the guy running his shop has spent a little more time than most around territorial animals, and there were signs all over the store with commandments to keep your children in check, no touching the very soft and inviting pelts that looked so cuddly, and no picture taking.

This guy ran a sweet shop, and I will be the last person on earth to disrespect his wishes. So we all held hands, didn’t touch anything and I took zero pictures.

But if you are ever in Montana, YOU GOTTA GO IN THERE IT IS CRAZY AMAZING. I can just see wolverine fur-lined silk gloves on Etsy….can’t you??

Ben hooked us up with the most *beautiful* cabin on Lake McDonald in Glacier Park. We had a picnic dinner and enjoyed the most amazing sunset on earth…with the rest of the photographers camped out there. Ben and I sat on the river and enjoyed the sunset together, eating chips and discussing meta-subjets. Just like we like it.

 

So, even though we saw zero…ZERO…buffaloes (zero buffaloes!!), we did see a ton of wild horses and mountain goats. The mountain goats were hands down the most exciting, for obvious reasons. Granted, they act exactly like goats. If you were wondering. But still: they are mountain goats.

The wild horses were just as sweet as can be, though. Not skittish, just chillin in the sun. Pleasant to hang out with. Can’t be boxed in.

They may be my spirit animal.

And Nova is standing in front of Avalanche Mountain…that crevice behind her is where the avalanche happened…I’ll explain later.

Okay, so the highlight of our trip, at least for me, was the Going To The Sun road in Glacier National Park.

I cannot do any justice to the kings of mountains that line the valley through which we travelled. They are large. Towering. Majestic and kingly. They sit side by side in splendor and in peace. Each held a different personality, and you would find yourself identifying with the mountain’s face. This experience was humbling and beautiful.

That is, until we reached Avalanche Lake, and while I was standing on the bank of a river I watched a VERY LARGE AVALANCHE TUMBLE DOWN THE SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN DIRECTLY TOWARDS ME AND MY CHILDREN.

You heard that right. An avalanche. Right in front of me, and right behind the road which had been shut down for the next month by the Rangers who were trying to find the road with a GPS.

So. I kind of panicked, grabbed my children and high-tailed it back to the parking lot where Ben had taken Eve to the bathroom.

What was befuddling to me was the disgusting calmness everyone in the parking lot had, despite a gigantic avalanche right behind us.

Granted, it never reached the ground and we were terribly safe.

However. They seriously need vodka bars out there for those of us who CAN’T HANDLE AVALANCHES COMING DIRECTLY TOWARDS US BECAUSE *SERIOUSLY IT’S AN AVALANCHE*.

Anyway, I got a panoramic view of the valley because it is so insanely beautiful.

When the mountains aren’t MOVING TOWARDS YOU.

 

Anyway, after spending a week experiencing Washington, Idaho and Montana…we were pretty bushed…

But we were happy, inspired and we enjoyed experiencing it all together.

 

 

This is what I call an amazing vacation 🙂

Me: “So, what do you want for dinner tomorrow?”

Ben: “…what.”

Me: “I need to defrost something tonight for tomorrow. What do you think about a turkey? Do you want a turkey dinner tomorrow night?”

Ben: “WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? It’s Mother’s Day!! You can’t cook on Mother’s Day!”

Me: “I know it’s Mother’s Day. That doesn’t mean I can’t cook. So, can you get a turkey out of the deep chest for me?”

 

Anyway. I might have thought it was a good idea, but Ben wasn’t having any of that…

so he and the kids took me out to a delightful lunch instead!

And an owl was sleeping right over our car when we got home, which inspired us to collapse in bed, as well.

A good family, good lunch, Sunday afternoon movie?

What else do you need?